Award-winning writer Louise Erdrich will present the 2012 Barbara Ballinger Lecture [1] on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7 pm at Unity Temple, 875 Lake Street in Oak Park. Erdrich, one of the most revered novelists of our time, will share stories from her newly published book, The Round House. Doors will open at 6:30 pm. The Book Table will offer books for sale at Unity Temple. Following the program, a reception and author signing will take place across the street at Oak Park Public Library at 834 Lake Street at approximately 8:30 pm. Hosted by the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library, the lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

A brilliant chronicler of Native American life, Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Plague of Doves, with The Round House, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

Louise Erdrich is the author of 13 novels as well as volumes of poetry, short stories, children's books, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel Love Medicine won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse was a finalist for the National Book Award. Most recently, The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Louise Erdrich lives in Minnesota and is the owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore, in Minneapolis, MN.

The Round House is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family. Riveting and suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace.

For more information on Louise Erdrich, visit
http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/2905/Louise_Erdrich/index.aspx [2].

About the Barbara Ballinger Lecture
Beginning in 2005, the Barbara Ballinger Lecture is now an annual fall event, hosted by the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library honoring Ms. Ballinger’s 32 years of service as a librarian in the Oak Park community. Ms. Ballinger served as head librarian of Oak Park Public Library for 24 years before retiring in 1991. Each lecture showcases an accomplished author, speaking at Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic Unity Temple.

About the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library
Since 1948, the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library have been building bridges between library and community, and raising funds to help sponsor library programs and services. Learn more at http://oppl.org/support/friends-library [3].

About Unity Temple
The American Institute of Architects named Unity Temple, opened in 1909, one of Wright’s most influential buildings. In 1971, the U.S. Department of Interior designated Unity Temple as a National Historic Landmark.